A viscous, hygroscopic amino alcohol with an ammoniacal odor. It is widely distributed in biological tissue and is a component of lecithin. It is used as a surfactant, fluorimetric reagent, and to remove CO2 and H2S from natural gas and other gases.

Amino alcohols containing the ethanolamine (-NH2CH2CHOH) group and its derivatives.

(monoethanolamine) A first generation monoethanolamine with antihistaminic property. Ethanolamine competes with free histamine for binding at the histamine (H)-1 receptor thereby acting as an inverse agonist that combines with and stabilizes the inactive form of the H1-receptor thereby shifting the equilibrium toward the inactive state. This leads to a reduction of the negative symptoms brought on by H1-receptor binding.